US thanks India for extending hospitality to Dalai Lama

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

ANI
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An exile Tibetan holds a Tibetan flag while waiting to welcome the Dalai Lama, unseen, as he returns to Dharmsala, India, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, after his tour to Japan. The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against China, leads a self-declared government-in-exile in India. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Washington, Nov.24: The United States has thanked India for extending hospitality to Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, a comment and a situation that isn’t going to please China, which views the latter as a renegade and a splitist.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday thanked India for extending hospitality to the Dalai Lama, saying: “ India is a country that is value based.”

These were the welcoming remarks that she made while receiving Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Capitol Hill.

She said that from Martin Luther King who received inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, to the present generation, Americans have learnt “about non-violence and how to get results (by using non violence).Pelosi invited the Prime Minister to revisit the US soon and address the joint session of Congress.

She also made a mention of the Mumbai attacks saying “Almost one year to the day when India suffered the terrible loss of Mumbai, we gather today to see how we can learn from that experience.”

An awkward statement, but nonetheless an acknowledgement that the Mumbai attack is not being ignored in America. Dressed in a grey trouser suit, Pelosi seemed almost deferential in her manner.

She reminded members of the press “the red carpet has been laid for the Prime Minister from the White House to the Capitol Hill” as Dr Singh “is perhaps one of the most respected leaders in the world.”

Tibetan exiles sing during Thank You India festival in Bangalore, India, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009. Tibetan exiles in India are observing a three-day Thank You India Festival in Bangalore starting Sunday to commemorate 50 years in exile of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people, and to express gratitude to India. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

The Prime Minister thanking the Speaker said that he was honoured and was here to give a new thrust to Indo-US relations.